There Is No Dog Theme of Mortality

Guess what: we don't actually have eternity to play Angry Birds. Right? It's pretty shocking. Luckily, we don't have to think about our mortality too often. Unless a big disaster strikes or someone close to us is sick, we can usually go about our lives without worrying about that kind of big-picture stuff, and it's a good thing, too. (We think.) But the characters in There Is No Dog are obsessed with these questions. Since this is a novel about God it even gets to ask questions like why is mortality a thing in the first place? Isn't a God that would do that cruel? The answer? Yes and no.

Questions About Mortality

Do you agree with Bob that mortality is more beautiful than immortality? Why or why not?

How does mortality affect humans' ideas of "forever" in this novel? How does it affect immortals' ideas of it?

Why do you think Rosoff didn't include the idea of an afterlife in this novel? How would heaven or hell have changed the novel?

Chew on This

Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.

In There Is No Dog, life is beautiful because it is brief.

Mortality is a curse. Given the choice, anyone would choose to be immortal rather than mortal.